Russian assets give up gains as oil heads lower

The rouble eased 0.1 percent to 56.57 versus the dollar as of 0746 GMT, moving away from its strongest level since early June of 56.20 it hit on Monday.

Downside pressure on the rouble increased as Brent crude futures slid to $69.1 per barrel after briefly hitting their highest since late 2014 of $70.37.

Against the broadly weaker euro, the rouble gained 0.4 percent to 69.07.

The market keeps an eye on the second day of an economic forum in Moscow named after Yegor Gaidar, architect of the tumultuous reforms that helped cement Russia's post-Soviet transition.

Top government and central bank officials are expected to speak on Wednesday, the day after the finance ministry said it may revise spending plans as the World Bank urged Moscow to spend more on healthcare and education.

Russian stock indexes went down. The dollar-denominated RTS index lost 1.2 percent to 1,246.1 points. Its rouble-based peer MOEX Russian index shed 0.9 percent to 2,237.4 points, down from its highest since early 2017 of 2,280.17 touched on Monday.

For rouble poll data see reuters://realtime/verb=Open/url=cpurl://apps.cp./Apps/fx-polls?RIC=RUB=